updated 05:50 pm EDT, Fri May 28, 2010

Lenovo delays Skylight and U1 again for Google OS

Lenovo settled questions around its ultra-mobile PCs on Friday by planing a switch in OS for the Skylight smartbook and the IdeaPad U1 detachable tablet. The two will drop Lenovo's in-house Linux OS for Android in what's treated as a reaction to "market conditions and user feedback." Future plans now involve creating an entire ecosystem of Android devices that would include devices like the LePhone.

Both computers were unveiled at CES and would have been been on the market as soon as April but have seen at least one delay each. The Skylight was last pushed back to July. No official explanation has been given until today why that might have been, although one rumor about the Skylight's delay claimed it was to fend off the iPad by producing more competitive offering.

The smartbook as a concept was heavily promoted by Qualcomm at the start of the year as a travel-friendly alternative to netbooks as they would be lighter, run for much longer on battery and have 3G as an integral feature. Much of that advantage eroded with the iPad, as it and other yet-to-be tablets offer many of the same features but are thinner, weigh less and can be used for other purposes like e-book reading. By choosing a slate design, Apple and others also create a clear difference between their devices and netbooks where smartbooks are much more conventional in where and how they can be used. [viaLaptop]

Rein?

Reality bites

Aaah so the ideapad was by some accounts the device that Apple wished they could make, said before the iPad was announced of course. Strange then that Lenovo feel that it needs further development to offer viable competition. In my opinion it is simply a dead end trying to create two separate concepts in one. It immediately signals that you don't have confidence in either while inevitably making it less efficient, heavier and more expensive to produce.